Slovakia – Sweden

The group leaders will have a tough, low-scoring battle

There is a logical and expected picture in the first group of League C of the Nations League before the third round. There are two teams in this quartet that are very different in class from the other two. Azerbaijan and Estonia will go into the next match day without a single point, while Sweden and Slovakia - with maximum "baggage". Both teams have won twice each and are in almost equal conditions. The only difference is that the Swedes have a better goal difference than their rivals after the matches with Azerbaijanis and Estonians. The Slovaks are the only team in the group to have played at the European Championships in Germany, so there is more information about their capabilities than about the Swedes, who have been experiencing a long-standing playing crisis. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming encounter, offering slightly tilted odds in their favour. The Slovakian team became stronger at the last EURO. On the German fields, Calzones' wards defeated Belgium and made it to the play-offs thanks to a draw with Romania in the final match of the group stage. There awaited them the future finalist of the tournament - England. The Slovaks could have changed history and knocked out the Three Lions already at the 1/8 finals stage, but they conceded the return goal on 90+5 minutes. Already in extra time the English tilted the result in their favour. Calzona's team played pragmatically against Estonia and Azerbaijan. Both matches were played with an overwhelming advantage of the Slovaks but ended with the score 1:0 and 2:0 respectively. Sweden "flew" both past the World Championship in Qatar and the continental championship in Germany. Such results testify to the painfulness of the generational change in this Scandinavian team. In addition, the Swedes' results in the last Nations League draw speak volumes about it. In the same League B group with the Serbs, Norwegians and Slovenes they picked up only four points, which was the worst performance in the group and resulted in a relegation to League C. Now Sweden have a big demand for achievements, due to which they will definitely fight for points in Bratislava. Out of the last four matches between the rivals, only in one case Slovakia and Sweden scored more than two goals. We bet that the match will be a lot of struggle and few goals.